STiR coffee and tea magazine

24 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2017 (April/May) screen at the robotic café and enter a 4-digit order number. The robotic arm, made by Mitsubishi, finds the waiting drink and delivers it. "This won't replace baristas or the coffee shop experience that so many people have come to love - we don't aim to do that," says c.e.o. Henry Hu. "What we're offering is the best possible experience for people who are looking for consistent specialty coffee to go." Learn more: https://cafexapp.com No Oregon Coffee Tax A proposed coffee tax to finance education would be controversial in caffeinated Oregon but officials say the idea won't survive the heat of the legislative roasting process. The proposal, dubbed House Bill 2875, would assess the sale of coffee beans at five cents per pound at the wholesale level. The money would be funneled into an "alternative education sustainability fund." No economic analysis has been done but a local newspaper estimated that, if passed, the tax could generate about $2 million annually. A spokesman for the state's majority Democratic legislators threw cold coffee on the idea. "There are 100-plus bills filed in the [state] revenue committee and most, like this one, don't rise to the level of even getting a hearing," said Scott Moore, communications director for the Oregon House Democrats. Boyd Releases Compostable Pod Boyd Coffee Company recently launched the first certifiable 100% compostable, single-serve coffee pod available to coffee-centric consumers shopping in West Coast grocery stores. The soft pouch generates less waste than other packs, while delivering a fresh aroma with full extraction, according to a company statement. The pods should be on store shelves this spring. The single-serve pod is made from more than 90% renewable resources, and the pod ring is made from coffee chaff. All parts of the pod are designed to be digestible by bacteria which supports the composting process after the coffee has been brewed and discarded. The pod meets the Biodegradable Products Institute standards and coffee grounds to make cold brew in-house, which can take between 6 and 24 hours. Cold brew from concentrate can be ready in minutes and served in batches or by the glass to limit waste. S&D's products are also shelf stable and significantly reduce food safety and storage issues found with other in-house cold brewing methods. "With the growing popularity of cold brew coffee, we saw the need for quality, craft-tasting products that are easy to implement," said John Buckner, vice president of marketing for S&D Coffee & Tea. Learn more: sdcoffeetea.com Boyd Coffee compostable capsules CafeX 1000 with robotic arm barista certifications required by municipal compost facilities, the company said. The compostable pod is compatible with most Keurig Green Mountain brewing systems, including the new Keurig 2.0 brewers. Learn more: www.clubcoffee.ca/compostable PT's Coffee Buys Bird Rock Kansas-based PT's Coffee Roasting Co. assumed control of Bird Rock Coffee Roasters of San Diego on Jan. 31 with plans to increase Bird Rock's retail and wholesale brand. PT's founder and c.e.o. Jeff Taylor will move to San Diego and lead the process, according to a company statement. Bird Rock founder Chuck Patton will become lead coffee buyer for both companies. "[The move] will give us the opportunity to expand the Bird Rock brand beyond San Diego and continue developing our direct trade programs and partner farms," Taylor said in the statement. "That's what makes this the perfect fit. PT's was one of the pioneers of the direct trade model of purchasing and Bird Rock successfully built itself around the same principals." Learn more: http://birdrockcoffee.com Office Coffee Market The global office and commercial coffee services market size is projected to grow to $32.71 billion by 2021, at a combined annual growth rate of close to 5% over the forecast period. Offices constitute the largest end-user segment of the global market, generating close to 49% of the overall revenue, driven by the need to increase employee engagements and their productivity. S&D cold crew concentrates Robotic Café Delivers Cafe X Technologies's first robotic café in the United States is designed to eliminate the variables and consistently serve its customers in seconds. The self-serve station is installed in San Francisco's Metreon shopping mall. Cafe X partnered with automated coffee machine maker WMF to deliver a quality espresso-based drink, the company said. Customers place orders at the kiosk or via a Cafe X app. Once the beverage is ready, customers use a touch

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